Geeky Art: Imperial Breakfast [Picture]

A pretty cool drawing (done out of a single line!) of two stormtroopers having breakfast. Picture by Flickr user Napoleón Vuelaenpartes.

[Source]



Toothpick Tour of San Francisco [Pics + Video]

Apparently Scott Weaver has a lot of time on his hands.  It’s a good thing he does, though, otherwise we’d never get to see this absolutely incredible model of San Francisco created using around 100,000 toothpicks.  And while other toothpick structures are really impressive, very few of them have four unique routes for ping-pong balls to roll down, twisting and winding past landmarks, before eventually landing in different locations scattered throughout town.

Not only does he have the Golden Gate Bridge, of course, but he’s included Fisherman’s Wharf, Alcatraz, and the ballpark where the Giants play, as well as their World Series trophy.

While the pictures are great, the video is by far the best way for you to check out this gorgeous piece of sculpture, where Weaver gives you the full nickel tour of the city he obviously loves:

You can check out more images of “Rolling Through the Bay” at Weaver’s website.  And if you live in San Fran, you can see it in person at The Tinkering Studio until June 30.

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Kinect Goes Hardcore… Kinda

Microsoft has announced a voice control feature for its Kinect motion control system in an apparent attempt to appeal to serious gamers.

Speaking at the E3 expo in Los Angeles, the company revealed that Kinect will be supported by several upcoming games aimed more at traditional players than the casual audience targeted in the initial Kinect launch — the Wii generation as it were.

The voice control will feature in Mass Effect 3, where players will be able to give commands to crew-mates via voice commands rather than making a menu selection. It sounds similar to the online multiplayer experience of many games, albeit it with Kinect unlikely to respond to racial slurs or l33t-speak.

The voice control will also be built into the main XBox menus, for example allowing users to search for media content by speech commands.

The motion control elements of Kinect will also feature in more hardcore games. For example Ghost Recon, the next installment in the Tom Clancy series, will allow players to dismantle, adjust and fire weapons using their hands. A demonstration of the technology earned a mixed review, with several attendees noting that the firing control (aim with one hand, unclench the other to fire) not only lacked the accuracy of using a controller, but didn’t bring much psychological benefit as it didn’t resemble the physical actions of firing a gun.

Kinect is also being built into several of the EA Sports franchises, including FIFA, NFL and PGA Tour. It’s hard to see the motion control working effectively in the ball games, though it might be suitable for conversions in NFL or penalty kicks in FIFA. The golf game, where the entire experience is based around specific physical movement, might be more suited to motion control, though the lack of a physical controller could make it trickier.

Despite the renewed emphasis on hardcore gamers, Microsoft certainly isn’t abandoning the family audience: it unveiled Kinect games based around Disney characters and Sesame Street. Indeed, one disgruntled reporter described 2011-2012 as “the best 12 months on Xbox 360 for eight year-old girls.”



Amazing Custom Chell (Portal) Doll [Pic]

The amount of work that has gone into making that 1/6 custom Chell doll (from Portal) must have been staggering. Just look at the details on the portal gun, I mean, it looks absolutely perfect! Kudos to flickr user Nael for building such an amazing replica.

[Via]

Introducing the PS Vita [Video]

Armed with dual analog sticks, front- and rear-mounted cameras, a multi-touch backing, 5-inch OLED touchscreen, sixaxis motion sensor, wifi, 3G (through AT&T, which sent a round of boos through the audience), and a slew of games designed to utilize its multiple control systems, the PS Vita is a packed-to-the-gills next-gen for the PS3. Retail price for the wifi-only version: $249. With 3G: $299.

So, who wants one?

[via SlashGear]

Jurassic Portal Jeep [Pic]

As Dan Ryckert was cruising down the highway just a few days ago, he caught a shot of a dude transporting a Companion Cube inside a Jurassic Park jeep.

Dear dude in the Jurassic Park jeep that’s transporting a massive companion cube: Can we be best friends?

Edit: Here’s a video of the jeep one of our Facebook fans just sent us.

[Via TDWG]